Wine Red
by DearJanuary
Summary: Time for Drake to face what he dreads the most.
1. Who Shot That Arrow In Your Throat?

Wine Red

**Wine Red**

Disclaimer: I own nothing associated with Drake & Josh. I just own the made up characters.

Chapter One: Who Shot That Arrow In Your Throat?

As per usual, Josh found his step-brother and best friend, Drake, sitting at the "cool" lunch table surrounded by seemingly entertained people. Josh knew that Drake wasn't necessarily embarrassed by him, but he was well aware that he'd be annoyed if he just wandered over to him while he was working his charm on an easily influenced crowd.

Still, Josh was too excited to keep his news to himself. He thought he might forget to breathe, if he didn't remind himself to. He marched over proudly with a smile permanent over his face to the lunch table where his brother was sitting.

"Hey Drake." He tapped his brother on the shoulder and attempted to grab his attention.

"Hold on." Drake didn't even turn away from his friends; he kept his back to Josh and just waved his hand in his face.

"Drake." Josh tried again.

"Hold on."

"Drake."

"What?!" Drake snapped as he spun around on the table top he was sitting upon. "What is so important?"

"I just wanted to let you know I can't drive you home today."

That totally put a damper on Drake's plans. He and his guy friends were going to go over to the nearby Clocktower to hear a new local band play that people said "could be better than Drake." Drake had to scope out the competition.

"Why?" Drake crossed his arms over his chest, curious to hear what excuse Josh could possibly have.

"Mrs. Hayfer..."

"Oh, I know where this is going." Drake rolled his eyes.

Josh sighed and tried to get his explanation out again.

"Mrs. Hayfer asked me to catch the new girl up in English after class, so I'm staying late."

"New girl?" This caught Drake's attention and excited him like electric shocks traveling through somebody's body. Frantically, Drake began to look for her. New girls were one of the few things Drake treasured.

"Yeah, I think Mrs. Hayfer said her name is Joy Catto." Josh thought back, his dark brown eyes rolling into his head for a moment. He was positive that's what his teacher said the student's name was.

Within a split second, Drake's face went ice white and he froze as if one of Josh's many magic trick attempts was successful. His eyes were still and as large as coconuts and just as dark. There was no expression, no movement, in the usually animated teenager.

"Dude, are you listening?" Josh checked.

"Yeah, whatever, I'll get a ride with Travis." Drake shrugged his shoulders non-chalantly and turned back to his group.

Josh didn't bother to keep pestering his brother. They shared a room together; he was bound to find out what was under Drake's skin, if anything was at all. Merrily, Josh went to wander off and tell his friends about how he was going to get to spend time with the new girl.

Drake sat at the lunch table, squished between Travis and a girl named Mona who he remembered hooking up with a few parties ago. He laughed along with his friends, saving face and going through the motions.

In the back of his mind, he remembered his mom mentioning that Joy was going to be transferring to her school. She had heard through word of mouth, but Drake had repressed it like he did most significant things that bug him. He was sure that until he actually laid eyes on her, he probably wouldn't believe that they co-existed in the same school at all.

XXX

The minute hand on the clock that hung right over the door to Mrs. Hayfer's room tocked by quickly and the new girl was becoming ever later for her meeting with Josh. It was now quarter to four when she was supposed to meet him at three thirty on the nose.

He hoped she wasn't like most of the girls at Belleview, ditching school and twirling her hair at the football games, breathing loudly between syllables and giggling when nothing was _that_ funny. He spent the extra time convincing himself she was just lost in the halls of the school or she was in the principal's office getting acquainted with the entire faculty.

Interrupting his thoughts, he heard a pair of sneakers screech at the door. Quickly, his eyes lurked up to notice the girl standing before him. She couldn't be much taller than 5'2". She had extra meat on her bones, especially her arms and eyes that reminded Josh of Nutella spread. She wore a smile like you would a necklace which Josh noticed she was wearing a thin bronze chain, the pendant obviously tucked behind the collar of her Ed Hardy baseball style shirt. She had a pair of grey jeans on and yellow Keds.

"Are you Joy?" Josh stood up at his desk and asked the chubby cheeked girl.

"If you're Josh." She grinned and played with the strap of her oversized book bag.

"That I am." With a goofball smile, he extended his hand to shake hers and he waited until she was seated in the desk next to him before sitting.

"How's your first day at Belleview?" He asked before diving into the novel they were studying, _Of Mice and Men._ He already had his book open and had made post it's to help her study.

"Well, so far everybody's been nice." She told him with a light almost sugary quality to her voice. "Just coming mid-semester, I'm really behind."

"That's why you got me."

"Thank goodness for that." She pulled her desk closer, casually, to peer over at the book.

"I made some notes for you, I hope you don't mind."

She looked at him with her whole face smiling.

"No, that's awesome. Notes are very welcomed."

"Good. We just started, so you're not trailing too badly, but we do have a 1,000 word essay due on the theme of the first chapter due Friday."

"Great, two days."

"Don't sweat, if you need extra help, you can call me."

"Thanks." She said while taking one of the books off his desk to look at it on her own.

"You'll notice that in the first paragraph alone…" Josh was cut off by the bombastic sound of her cell phone vibrating.

"I'm sorry." She pouted while digging through her book bag to get it. It was underneath a large mess of free papers. "It's just a text." She opened her phone up and glanced over it.

"Something important?"

"Just a guy." She shrugged and tossed it back in her bag.

"Is his name Drake Parker?" Fully knowing his brother's reputation and addiction to girls, especially new ones, Josh could only assume that Drake had already gotten Joy's number, e-mail, address, star-sign, and a dinner date for the weekend.

"No." Joy hesitantly answered. "It's just a friend from my old school." Joy figured it would be best if she didn't share with Josh that they both knew of Drake. Maybe, he'd find out, maybe, he wouldn't. Joy wanted to stay as drama free as she could for now. It had only been in the last year that Joy had found out about Drake, she didn't really know what to think about the situation, actually. She tried to just not think about it at all.

XXX

"Drake?" Audrey glanced out through the wall window in the kitchen at her son, who'd just came in the door and plopped right down on the couch in front of the television screen. He picked up the remote and changed it to a music station. "I thought you were going out with some friends."

"Nah." He just shrugged, staring at the picture on the screen.

"But, you said you had to put this new guitarist guy in his place. Make him put his money where his mouth is." She teased. Drake was never very externally emotional, but Audrey was still very aware when something was up with her son.

"I will some other time."

"Drake…"

"Mom," For the first time, Drake looked away from the TV and made a melancholy eye contact with his mom, who suddenly looked much more concerned about her boy. "Can we not talk right now?" He asked, hoping she'd agree.

"No." Audrey took off her green oven mitt and scooted out of the kitchen and on the couch next to her son. She took the remote from next to him and muted the TV program he had been staring at. "Something is wrong, I can tell."

Drake just sat silent and tried concentrating on the picture in front of him until Audrey shut off the TV entirely.

"Drake, we don't talk half as much as I'd like, but still, I want to know if something is wrong." Drake still didn't say a word. "Is this about sex?"

"Mom, ew!" He shouted and sent a shiver down his spine.

"Well, I don't know what they're telling you in school and your friends, well, they aren't exactly Disney characters."

"Mom, it's not….it's not about that."

"Good. Is it a girl?"

"Joy Catto?" With a snarl, he rolled his eyes and went back to holding himself. It was some sort of defense mechanism he'd created a long time ago, subconsciously.

"Uh oh. She started today?"

"Yeah."

"Did you run into her?"

"No, Thank God, but Josh is tutoring her."

"Damn, the big man upstairs has a messed up sense of humor, huh?" Audrey had never been a very religious woman, but she had nobody else to help her comprehend this scenario.

"But, Belleview is small, Mom, I'm going to run into her and…I don't want to."

"Drake, you can't blame her. She was just like you, eight years old. She is not at all guilty." Audrey tried to help her son understand. "Maybe, she doesn't even know."

Drake fixed his mom with a stare that told her he knew she was just trying to make him feel better.

"Can I just skip the rest of this year and hang out here?"

"Drake, when you were four and your like OshKosh BaGosh's fell off at the zoo in front of the monkey cages and you suddenly became the main attraction, you were mortified, cried the whole way home," Audrey rambled on even though Drake wished she'd keep that story private. "I told you this then, and I'm going to tell this now, you can't hide from your problems. You've got to face facts, hiding and pouting solves nothing."

"Yeah, I get that and all, but it feels good."

"Do you want me to call your dad, Drake? If this is really bugging you."

"No! I don't want to talk to him!" He snapped. "No, Mom, don't worry about it. I'll just face the facts."

"Atta boy." She leaned it to kiss him on the cheek before returning to the kitchen to tend to her pork chops and steamed vegetables.

As much as he didn't want to, Drake knew he was going to have to go to school tomorrow and see Joy in his English class. He'd only seen a picture of her and it was when she was eight years old. Even back then, he had a huge love for girls, but he remembered thinking she was ugly. Maybe, it was because she had tee shirt with Rainbow Brite on it, he was more of a Smurf's guy. It could've been because she had her hair done up in a palm tree style pony tail with a fluffy pink scrunchie. No, at the end of the day, Drake knew, deep down inside, he didn't hate her because of who she was, but what she was. The girl who took his dad away. It was her mom that Mr. Parker had been seeing and Joy was the girl who captured his heart. Drake had heard from his mother's gossipy friends that it was only six weeks into Mr. Parker dating Joy's mom that he'd already bought her and Joy a house and he was getting ready to move in.

Drake sighed exasperatedly and flipped the TV back on.

He couldn't ignore the truth. Joy Catto was now somebody he'd have to see on a regular basis. Like his mom instructed, he had to face facts, but that doesn't mean he has to be kind.

Let me know what you guys think so far. This is my first Drake and Josh story.

This is just the intro chapter, but I love feedback, suggestions, and comments. Anything but, flames.

**Wine Red by the Hush Sound. **


	2. This Chaos, This Calamity

Chapter Two: This Chaos, This Calamity

Chapter Two: This Chaos, This Calamity

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Drake & Josh or anything affiliated with it. I do, however, wish I did and I do own the made-up character of Joy Catto.

"You know what the best thing is about Joy," Josh rambled on in the car on the way to school. He made a sharp turn into the parking lot. Drake had his Ray Ban style glasses covering his eyes that would make an insomniac look like they got a full day of slumber. He didn't even toss or turn last night. He just stayed awake blankly, staring up at the ceiling and thinking, disliking the current reality. He really wished his step brother would just zip his lips shut. "Not that she likes me or anything, I know she's not interested, but, you know, she doesn't go running away screaming, either." Proudly, Josh proclaimed while pulling into an open space.

"Yeah, yeah, she sounds like a saint." Drake snarled, kicking the door open and throwing his backpack over one shoulder before slamming the passenger seat door shut behind him.

"You don't even know her." Josh followed, eagerly behind him, as Josh headed towards his cluster of friends who were standing in front of the bike racks of Belleview. "Which is surprising, but still."

"Look, I'll see you in English." Drake stopped in his tracks to face Josh and then pat his stomach, lightly, before rushing over to his friends, waving one hand in the air.

For a full second, Josh stood alone in the parking lot, people who never bothered to get to know him passing by without even glancing over him. It hurt, usually, to be alone and basically uninteresting to everyone who surrounds. Josh felt that, but he pasted on a smile as soon as he saw Craig and Eric standing behind the foyer doors of the school. He adjusted the arms of his backpack and then carried on inside, passing by Drake and his posse.

XXX

"So, how'd you carry on at home?" Josh asked as Joy entered the classroom at the sound of the first bell.

"Your color coordinated post-it's helped a lot." She teased, playfully. "I can't say it's my favorite book though."

Bashfully, Josh blushed followed by a very childish chuckle. It was nice to have a female friend. Craig and Eric were great, but, Joy was a little different, she was more dimensional then the two of them combined.

"I'm not going to lie to you; it's not going to get any better." He slipped into his seat, putting his books down on the desk.

Joy went to sit in the desk right in front of him, but a girl that reeked of Victoria Secret and looked like she slept with her head in a can of florescent paint colors jumped in the seat first.

"What do you think the chances are I could read _Rolling Stone_ instead?" Joy slipped swiftly behind the desk in the back. Josh's eyes widened as he realized that was Drake's desk, but he chose to swallow the lump in his throat and say nothing about it. There was a good possibility Drake would skip Mrs. Hayfer's class all together.

"Very unlikely." He laughed, while the two talked over other people.

"Class, class," Mrs. Hayfer made her grand entrance into her English classroom. The chatter began to soften, but remained as a whisper. A few students sat up straighter and tried to pretend to be attentive. "Like I told you yesterday, today is going to be a reading period. It's a good chance for you who procrastinators to read the first chapter of this amazing novel." She flapped a paperback copy of _Of Mice and Men_ in her hand as her grin sparkled. "If you've finished, you're welcome to peer edit someone's essay." Mrs. Hayfer began to make herself comfortable at her desk, ready grade homework and take attendance. "Silence begins…" She glanced at her tiny silver wristwatch. "Now."

Hands shuffling through bags for papers, pens, and books took over the room of students and slowly faded out into a complete silence, if you ignored the girl to Josh's right who always shook her legs under her desk top and the Luna twins who always smacked their gum to the roof of their mouth with their tongues.

Drake very carelessly entered the English class he despised with all his being. The soles of his shoes slapped the floor at metronome and he kept his eyes open by just as sliver. A long brown mane seemed to be taking over his desk. The girl who was wearing an outfit that impressed Drake, an oversized _Anberlin _shirt, dark distressed jeans, and yellow Chuck Taylor's, was sitting at his desk. He couldn't make out her face since she was concentrating downwards to read.

"Excuse me," He smiled flirtatiously. "You're in my desk." He spoke at his normal tone, oblivious to the quietness that was present around him.

Joy flipped her head up quickly and looked up at Drake. She just smiled and looked around the room for the different desk to offer him. Drake was stunned, this had to be Joy, he hadn't heard of any other new kids coming to Belleview.

"There's one up front. Right in front of the teacher." She nodded with her chin towards Mrs. Hayfer's desk.

"No way." Drake shook his head. "This is my desk. Cough it up."

Nobody could believe it. Drake, the notorious ladies man, who'd dated the last three new girls alphabetically, was being direct and pushy with the new girl. Everybody stopped reading and watched the two stare at one another.

"How nice of you to join us, Drake Parker. I believe this is your sixteenth late this month alone." Proudly, Mrs. Hayfer told the student she hated so dearly. She looked up from her papers, playing with a blue ballpoint pen between her fingers.

Joy's bronzed face was white washed like a fence as soon as she realized who was standing in front of her. The anger he was sending her through his eyes was unavoidable. She swallowed hard and made a quick eye contact with Josh, the person she'd talk to the most in the class, but he too was shocked by the way his brother was acting.

"Could you save the flirting with Miss Catto till after class?" She wandered out from behind her desk and leaned her bum against it, crossing her arms as she usually did when speaking directly to Drake.

"Ewe, I'm not flirting with her." He scoffed down at Joy like she disgusted him and physically shivered.

"Well, it's reading time. So take a seat and pull out your book." She said while looking over the class.

"I forgot my book." To be honest, Drake didn't even know they were reading in that class.

"Then share with Joy."

"Mrs. Hayfer – "

"No. Do it." She put up her hand and didn't glance back up. Mrs. Hayfer simply patted down a puff of her blonde hair and went back to her grades. "Miss Catto, you don't mind sharing with him, do you?" She checked before pairing up the new girl with the student she absolutely detested.

"You shouldn't." Drake glared down and pushed his way through Joy's midnight dark eyes. "We share a dad. Oh wait, you don't share him." He snarled. By this time, the class's attention span was gone and trying to concentrate on their work again.

Joy's whole body shrugged at the sound of Drake's snide comment. Her heart fell and she felt nothing, but a horrible guilt that filled every inch of her body.

Drake growned and very reluctantly pulled a chair up to his desk and just texted behind the book while Joy tried to read.

He wished that she had still appeared like the girl in the picture with an ugly eighties tee shirt and bad hairstyle. Instead, she dressed nicely, mysteriously and wasn't exactly hard on the eyes. She was pretty pleasant actually. Drake couldn't help, but notice one of his guy friend's ogling at her and a few of his girl buddies, all of which he'd at least kissed twice, passing her notes.

That was it. She could take his dad, but not his group. That was his. He knew he could get them to obey, he just had to turn them against her and that wasn't going to be a problem.

As soon as the bell rang to signal the end of class, Drake zipped up his backpack, threw it over one shoulder and chased after a few of his friends. Joy jumped up behind him to try and talk to him, but Josh stood in her way.

"How'd you do?" He checked, very caringly, on her.

"Alright. I didn't get very much done." She admitted to him.

"Do you want to come over after school? I'll help you work on your essay."

"That would be awesome, Josh. I'd really appreciate it." She was sincere, but still tried to walk around him to catch up with Drake.

"No worries. I hope my brother didn't give you any trouble." He said to her back, as she was walking out of the classroom.

"Who's your brother?" She turned around to face him again.

"Drake."

Suddenly, Joy wanted some excuse to turn down their extra tutoring session.

"Oh…uh, no." She shook her head around. "He was fine. See you." She raced out of the classroom and found Drake standing against a locker talking to a blonde haired princess looking girl. She was a life size Polly Pocket.

"Drake." It took all her courage just to squeak his name out of her mouth.

Very slowly, almost painfully, Drake turned his head around and faced his enemy.

"Tris, this is Joy." Drake had been schmoozing with one the meanest girls in the school. Shallow, materialistic, and cruel, that was Tris Mullins in a nutshell. "The girl I was telling you about."

"So, what's it like?" Tris stepped in front of Drake and in front of everybody in the halls began to loudly talk to the new girl. Tris had always gotten an easy kick out of scaring new girls, but with the information she had received from Drake, it was even more thrilling.

"Excuse me?" Joy finally paid attention to Tris. She let her eyes dart back and forth between the blonde and her sort of step-brother. "I really need to talk to Drake."

"Answer my question, please." Tris fluttered her drugstore eyelashes and smiled down at Joy while clicking her shoes together at the heel. "So, how do you know?"

"I'm sorry; I don't know what you're talking about." Joy searched Tris's face for answers. She was so confused to what was going on.

"Drake said you two used to hang out in elementary, but back then your name was Joe." Tris giggled.

"What?" Joy had no recollection of ever being called "Joe" or being friends with Drake. She had never even met him or heard of him until recently.

"Before the operation." Tris loudly said right into Joy's face. "So, do you like, still have the guy parts?" Immaturely, Tris continued to pester the new girl.

Joy wanted to cry. She could hear strangers, people she'd never been near before snickering and trying to peek at her. She would've let all her tears out if she hadn't had a clear view of Drake Parker covering his mouth and laughing along with his guy friends. She was hurt, but not stupid. She knew he'd started this rumor.

"I don't know where you heard that, but your source is just diluted." Joy tried to remain classy before rushing out of the crowd and out of everybody's view.

"What's the deal, man?" Josh confronted his brother after watching him reward Tris with a big hug and thank you kiss. "Why would you do that?"

"You wouldn't understand, man." Drake scoffed at Josh and opened his locker to dig through for his textbook for Science.

"I think I would. You're jealous." Josh accused.

"What?" Drake turned around, stunned, he could only laugh.

"Yeah, you're jealous of me and Joy."

"Oh, this is cute." Drake began to cackle, his head dipping back.

"Well, first of all, we're not even anything and second of all, that's ill, man. I can't believe you."

"Josh…" Drake thought about telling Josh the story behind Joy, but Josh walked away too fast. He shook his head and went off searching for Joy.

XXX

Alright, not an excellent chapter, but keep reading to see what happens when Joy goes over to study with Josh.

Please comment, suggest, and review. I love hearing what you guys think.

Thanks.


	3. This Garden Once Was Perfect

Chapter Three: This Garden Once Was Perfect

Chapter Three: This Garden Once Was Perfect

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Drake & Josh or anything affiliated with it. I do, however, own the made up character of Joy Catto.**

"I'm coming! I'm coming." Without taking her eyes off the television screen in front of her, Megan pulled herself off the couch and wandered to the door to answer it. She turned the knob and didn't look at Joy standing in the doorway. "Come in." She said, going back to the TV.

"Oh," Joy stood clueless for a second and then chose to walk right in. No sign of Drake, so far, the coast was clear. She slipped off her favorite shoes out of all the yellow pairs she had and stuffed both hands in her pockets. "Is Josh here?" She closed the front door behind her and wandered over to the couch to ask Megan.

"You mean Drake." Still hooked on the _Animal Planet_ show she was watching, Megan heard the voice of a teenage girl and just assumed she was there for her older brother.

"No, no, Josh invited me over."

"What!?" That grabbed Megan's attention by the reigns. She turned all the way around and took mental notes of Joy, everything from the way she parts her hair slightly to the side to the holes in her plain white socks. The girl stood before her like one of the chick's on the cover of _Spin_ magazine: Beautiful, but able to string a sentence together, femme but, has a kick ass play list in her Ipod. How was she there for Josh? "You're here for Josh? Josh Nichols?"

"He's tutoring me."

"Oooh," Megan nodded along and closed her eyes, happy she'd solved the mystery. "That makes sense."

"Is he here?" Joy asked.

"He ran out to pick up food, but you can watch this with me, if you want." Megan hadn't the slightest idea who Joy was or her relation to her. She was just happy to have another girl in the house, and one who was seemingly clever.

"Okay, thanks." Joy looked around the Parker/Nichol's home. When she was a teenager and had found out about Drake, she always wanted to meet him and make amends. She stared at the pictures on the wall, dishes in the glass cabinet, and anything that made her feel like she knew him a little bit better. She even took her time eyeing Megan over. There was a chance Megan was biologically related to Josh, but maybe she was Drake's sister

"It's about beach wild life." Megan said, turning up the volume on the TV. "Did you know a sand dollar larvae can clone itself?"

"What?" That caught Joy off guard. "Who'd have thought?" Joy decided to stop snooping and play it cool. She rested her brown eyes on the screen and tried to get interested in _Animal Planet._

"Megan, honey, do you know where I put my grocery list?" Audrey came out of the swinging kitchen door with her eyes and hands digging through her black purse for the lost list.

"Nope." Megan told her my Mom in a monotone voice.

"I swear, I put it on the fridge." She put her purse down on the counter and held her hips, glancing upwards for a second. "Hi, I'm…" Audrey noticed the girl sitting next to her daughter on the couch.

Nervous and unsure what she should do, Joy inhaled and rose from the couch. She took three small steps closer to a woman she'd seen pictures of and extended her arm out for shaking.

"Joy Catto." She introduced herself.

Rushing onto her face like a winner over the finish line, shock and uncertainty stained Audrey Parker- Nichols. Her knees knocked together once and then all of her limbs wobbled.

"Audrey Parker-Nichols." Very lightly, like she may break her in pieces, Audrey took Joy's hand in hers and shook it. "Would you, please," Audrey reminded herself mentally to say. It was hard enough to keep her composure, let alone be courteous. "come into the kitchen with me? Help me find my grocery list." Audrey gave Joy a straight look which expressed that they weren't actually going to go find her list.

Joy nodded in agreement and followed Drake's mother behind the swinging kitchen door.

Audrey was silent as she went through the kitchen cupboards, opening and closing them and then starting all over. Joy fiddled with the kitchen table chairs, unsure if she should sit or not. She chose to just hold the back of one and wait for some kind of instruction.

"I got to be honest with you, Joy." Audrey closed the last drawer, slamming it loudly. "I really didn't think this day would come."

"Thursday?" Joy didn't mean to be snotty; she was simply just as uncomfortable as Audrey clearly was.

"No," Audrey tried to laugh lightly, but it was clearly pretend. "I didn't think I'd ever meet you."

"I'm sorry." She knew she was apologizing for making Audrey go through the motions with her, but she was also saying sorry for her mom's actions almost a decade ago, stealing her husband away.

"No, I just…." Audrey rubbed one palm over her forehead. She felt as if she'd faint right on the tiles of her kitchen floor. "Megan doesn't know." She told Joy, hoping she would comply. "I don't want her to know."

"Okay." Delicately like a porcelain doll, Joy nodded. She didn't really have any intentions on sharing the information anyways.

"Thank you." Audrey finally took a cleansing breath and smiled. She pulled out a seat and sat at the kitchen table, waiting for Joy to do the same. "Honestly, Joy, I wanted to hate you."

"I wouldn't blame you."

"I was hoping you'd be plastered in colorful make up and exposing your belly like in one of those music videos."

"I'm sorry." Joy squeaked out again.

"This is hard on Drake, you know."

"He's sort of made that clear." She chose not to elaborate by telling his mom the rumor he spread about her. "I don't intend to make this any harder then it has to me. I hate that Mr. Parker and my mom did what they did, but this is the aftermath, and we got to deal with it."

"Yes, I agree." Audrey nodded along.

"I didn't know that Drake and Josh were related until after I agreed to come over here and write my essay with Josh."

"Well, Drake's out at the moment, so maybe he doesn't have to know."

"Maybe." Joy hoped not.

Interuppting their semi-peaceful moment, Josh threw the front door open, three pizza boxes balanced in one of his hands.

"I'm home!" He hollered while walking past Megan, who was still fixated on her program, and walking into the kitchen. "I got dinner." He announced, putting the pizza's down on the kitchen counter. "Oh, Joy," He noticed her as soon as he could see over the boxes of pizza. "You're here already."

"Yeah, turns out we don't live too far from one another." She smiled and rose from the table.

"Cool." Josh was excited by the thought of having a friend who lived in the same proximity as he did. "Why don't we take one pizza upstairs and get started?"

"Alright." Joy slipped her hands back in her pockets and waved off Mrs. Parker-Nichols.

"Leave the door open!" Audrey made the transition into being a worried mother and screamed out behind the two kids.

"I hope you like cheese." Josh led Joy into the clean bedroom, at least, his side was spotless.

"I love cheese." She grinned, checking out the place. She figured out right away that Josh and Drake shared a bedroom. "Which bed is yours?"

"This one." Josh patted the one that was level with the floor and had the corner's of the blue sheets tucked in precisely. "This is my side, that's Drake's." He outlined the room for her.

Like many girls before her, Joy was drawn to Drake's designated area. She found a picture face down right beside his pillow. Josh didn't watch her; he set up some plates and got his books ready at the small coffee table for them to work with.

Joy handled Drake's photograph with care, like she was washing a newborn baby in the kitchen sink. She held it without letting her finger pads touch it. It was an old picture, dating years back. Audrey was much younger with a natural hair color in it. Joy noted how beautiful she was in a black dress that cut just below the knees and tan colored flip flops. She had a lot of hairspray on her head and a hot shade of pink for lipstick. She was very obviously pregnant in the picture. Mr. Parker had a rocking Tom Selleck-esq mustache over his mouth in this picture and a flannel shirt that Joy had seen him in before tucked into his acid wash trousers. A baby Drake stood between them with a his mouth wide open and eyes squishing shut very tightly. He was dressed in a little white button up shirt, black pants, and black Batman tie. Like the perfect family their friends knew them to be, all three stood in front of the steps of a friend's house and smiled happily.

'What the hell are you doing?!" Joy hadn't heard Drake come in. Josh knew because Drake didn't take the stairs, he jumped them two at a time, it was impossible not to hear him coming.

Surprised, Joy spun around, Drake's Polaroid shaking between two fingers. He stared at her viciously while his breath huffed. It took him a second to see his picture in his hand and he ripped it from her hand. He was very protective of his memory of what he once had.

"This isn't yours!" He shouted right at her face, she felt his anger and spit splash her cheeks. "What do you think you're doing? I don't go through your shit."

"I'm sorry."

"Hey, back off," Josh climbed up off his knees and tried pulling Josh away from her by the shoulders. "I invited her over to work."

"Well, kick her out!" Drake still faced her. "This is my room."

"Drake, calm down, okay?" Josh finally got in the way and captured his brother's attention. "Have some pizza; write a song, chill out."

"You don't get it, do you?" Drake moved away from the trembling Joy and took his brother to the side. "You don't know who she is, what her mom did!"

"What?" Josh was clueless to what Drake was throwing a temper tantrum over.

"She's why my parent's aren't together. My dad was screwing her mom and he fell in love with stupid Joy! Oh, Joy's so cute," Drake began to impersonate what he imagined his dad might've said. "Joy's so funny, she's got the funniest laugh, oh Joy, oh Joy, he chose that family because I wasn't good enough!" He shouted to get all his repressed pain out of his system.

"I'm sorry!" Joy said for the umpteenth time, it was beginning to sound very used to her ears. "I didn't know! If I'd known, I wouldn't have let it happen, okay?" Joy jumped between the two emotional brothers, Drake was pissed while Josh was stunned like he'd just met Oprah. "I hate my mom for doing this to you, guys, but stop blaming me!"

"Get out, you stupid bitch!" Drake just screamed.

Silence mixed with the tension that was stinking up Drake and Josh's bedroom, the only noise was the loud exhales of Joy and Drake who'd released years of feelings on each other. Standing next to her one friend, Joy couldn't believe it.

"Drake, come on," Josh tried to reason with him. He felt his pain, but there was a much better way to handle things. "Joy, you don't have to leave."

"I'm not joking, get out!" Drake shouted at her.

"See you, Josh." Joy turned around, Drake close behind her, so he could slam his bedroom door, but there stood troublesome Megan Parker in the doorway, crying over what she had heard from eavesdropping.

"Megan." Joy's voice crackled from being a combination of sore, dry, and apologetic.

"You're a bitch." Without really understanding what she meant, Megan just let the words push from her mouth and onto the stranger that stood before.

XXXXX

**Something tells me this wasn't the best chapter, I don't know, I could really use some feed back on it, because maybe I'll change things around.**

**Please, read and review! **


	4. Give Your Imortality To Me

Chapter Four: Give Your Immortality To Me

Chapter Four: Give Your Immortality To Me

**DISCLAIMER: I don't own Drake & Josh or anything, just the made up characters. **

"Really? Is this really necessary right now? Thursday morning?  
While packing Megan's lunch at her kitchen counter, Audrey was attached to the phone and arguing intently.

Dressed in his work suit provided by the station, Walter's smile was brighter than the electric stars at the planetarium. His ratings were inclining, his financial situation was smoothing over, and there was a fresh scent of toast lathered in peanut butter coming from his kitchen. Nothing was going to bother him this morning.

"You're not fooling me, Bennett." Audrey spoke truthfully, trying to concentrate on zipping up the pink lunch bag with one hand. It was a more difficult task than talking to her ex-husband, that was just like talking to a kindergarten kid about global warming: pointless. "It's been seven years."

Walter's face shook off its grin and went straight into staring his wife down. They'd talked about Drake and Megan's father countless times, especially with Joy's appearance in their home the week before, but he hadn't called. He stopped visiting the kids once Drake was ten. He couldn't balance the two families and he made his choice, selfish as it was.

"Get off the phone! Get off the phone!" Like a cartoon, Walter began to wave his hands above his head and yell in a whisper.

Audrey watched Walter shake in front of her frantically, but Bennett Parker's voice, so distinguished and yet so naïve, was playing like a catchy chord into her ear.

"Fine, I will talk to them about it, but I am making zero promises." She put her hand up in the air in an attempt to silence Walter. He shrugged his shoulders and sighed, realizing he was a fighting a losing battle. "Okay!" Audrey's voice was exhausted from conversation and clearly irritated. "I will talk to _him_ about it. Goodbye." Deeply, she pushed her thumb against the button that had a hieroglyphic of hanging up and left the phone on the counter. She grabbed the edge of it and took in a deep breath while staring at her panty hosed feet.

"What was that all about?" Walter asked, not sure if he actually wanted to know.

"Drake." Audrey admitted.

"Morning!" As if on cue, Drake strolled into the kitchen, still relaxed in his pajamas. He found the pile of peanut butter covered toast on the table and pulled out a chair for himself. After his angry session with the hated Joy Catto in his bedroom, things had turned around. She transferred out of his first period English class, she moved lockers to a different hallway and for his sake, and she was avoiding him at all costs. He thought he saw her once at a pep rally on Tuesday, but as soon as he blinked, she was gone. His life was back to normal and he didn't give a rat's ass about anything regarding her anymore.

"Good morning." Weakly Audrey smiled at her son. "I'm going to take Megan to school now." She swiped the lunch bag off the counter top and stopped to kiss Drake on the cheek on her way out of the kitchen. "Get dressed; you're going to be late." She advised him before exiting.

Walter didn't say a word. _What could he say?_ He wasn't even clear about what was going on exactly. He just grabbed a slice of toast and followed Audrey out, leaving Drake to eat alone in peace.

**XXXX**

She brushed stray hairs that had managed to slip out of her pony tail. Her back curved as she hunched over the lunch table where she sat content and quietly. She had an up tempo song playing happily out of her Ipod headphones, she couldn't even hear the cars in the parking lot or girls giggling around her. She lifted her hand too delicately, careful to not rip the paper, flipping to the next page in the newest issue of _Spin_ magazine.

At her old high school, which was just a stone's throw away and a block from Belleview, Joy had no problem meeting people. She had never been that alluring girl with perfectly massacred eyelashes, who could flutter from group to group without a breath in-between, but she had a core handful of friends, three to be exact, and it was all about quality, not quantity for her.

However, thanks to Drake, she had the hardest time approaching anyone. She didn't know if anybody had a clue about the story behind her and Drake, but she also had no plans to find out.

She wished she was back in the cafeteria of Archibald Leach, not sitting alone outside at a rain stained and chewing gum decorated picnic table.

"Alright, I'll see you guys later." Josh put the last of his books in his book bag at the table; he and a few of his friends were sitting. He'd noticed Joy off in the distance and he could feel her loneliness from all the way over. He knew Drake would be too busy being an exhibitionist somewhere in the parking lot with his mosh pit of friends to notice him just to check on her.

Josh couldn't help it, being nice just looked good on him.

He walked with soft steps, saying "excuse me" when walking through people or stepping in front of their path. Very consciously, he scanned over his view of the parking lot before laying his hand on Joy's shoulder boldly.

"Hey." Quiet and with his shyness prominent, he said.

"Holy shit!" Joy screamed and darted her head around in one big motion. As soon as she noticed Josh, who she had frightened with her reaction, she grabbed her chest with both her hands and let her eyes close for a second. "You scared me." She admitted, turning off her Ipod since the headphones had fallen out when she jumped.

"Really?" Josh sarcastically snarled. "Sorry, I didn't mean to." He sunk back into his quiet shell and sat next to her, glancing over the magazine she was reading through. He couldn't help but smile lightly, sometimes it seemed unreal how much Joy and Drake had in common, but couldn't ever look past what they could've put behind them a long time ago. "I just thought you could use some company."

Secretly, Joy had wished Josh was one of her old friends. Wild Becca, who wore dark crimson colored lips and abused cigarettes and boys with them. She'd smack them together between words and quote songs like something she'd just come up with. Or distant Whit, that girl who listens to you, but never tells you anything sustains about herself in return. Joy would've been happy to have been scared out of her skin by either one of those girls, but most of all, she wished it had been her best friend of all Danny. He was a simple, dirty redhead, who would never admit it, but would do anything to see a naked girl off of a computer screen or magazine page. In many ways, Drake was a lot like Danny, just more experienced when it came to girls. Danny was a music fiend and he was clever, even though he was just an average student.

Joy wasn't losing touch with any of her Archibald Leach friends, she just couldn't see them everyday between the hours of eight am and three thirty pm, and that was a big adjustment.

"I could, actually." Joy brought herself back to reality and admitted to Josh. "Belleview is not the friendliest school." Her bored eyes lurked behind Josh and took notice to the stereotypical high school tableus playing out around the grounds.

"I haven't seen you in English." Josh changed the subject and brought her stare back to him.

"I'm in Baker's, third period."

"That explains why you're not in the back row in Math."

"Yeah, sorry, it's nothing personal." Joy enjoyed Josh's company; he was someone who was very easy to be around. She never felt inferior to him even though he was a brainiac and she never felt better than him, either. Had it not been for Drake, she was positive they could be buddies. "I liked hanging out with you."

"I understand its okay." Josh shook his head slightly. "But, I hope you don't change everything just because of Drake. He can't always get what he wants." Josh spoke to Joy like a husband would to an overprotective wife. "This is your high school, too."

"Whatever." Joy started to pack her bag after catching a glimpse of the time on her wrist watch. "I don't really care, it's just high school." She sat up from the lunch table, sliding the bag over both her shoulders.

"Yeah, but you've got two years left here, make the best of it."

"I am." Joy lied. "Look, I got to go or I'll be late, but it was nice talking to you again." Joy scurried away before Josh could think about what to say next. She was lost in a sea of Belleview students. She knew socializing with Drake's brother would probably be highly frowned upon by Drake and because of that, she didn't want to.

**XXXX**

With each hand occupied on the back of a girl, Drake strolled through the parking lot of Belleview with a large bunch of his friends. He had a wet know-it-all grin on his face as well as a new pair of colorful sunglasses.

The whole group was in a fit of laughter while Trevor was finishing a story about what he had done over the weekend.

Interrupting their good time, a dirty old Neon honked behind them, trying to get through the cluster of teenagers. Almost every one of them looked behind to give the unshaved man behind the wheel the furry eye.

Only a few of the girls moved to the side to make room for the car, so the man honked again. This time, Trevor walked right towards the front of the Neon and lifted one leg up to climb on top of the hood, just because he was a smartass and could. Drake watched, still holding both the girls.

He couldn't believe he didn't realize it at first. The man behind the wheel looked like a modernized version of the man in all his photos.

Behind the wheel of his car, he lowered his hazel eyes and smirked in Drake's direction only.

It hurt when Drake swallowed around the lump in his throat; he could feel his bones crushing underneath his worry and his heart jump a little. After seven years, what the hell was Bennett Parker doing at Belleview High School?

**XXXXXX**

A lengthy review would make one very happy camper.

Part two will be posted soon, I promise.


	5. I'll Set You Up Against The Stars

Chapter Five: I'll Set You Up Against the Stars

Chapter Five: I'll Set You Up Against the Stars

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Drake & Josh, I only own the made up characters of Joy Catto and Bennett Parker.

Josh had always been the scholar of the family, Megan was a brain, but Josh was the academic overachiever in the Nichols – Parker home. So, it was no surprise to his teachers that Drake spent the afternoon in the back of the class staring out the window with a dead pan expression flat on his face. They were thrown for a loop when he didn't admit to make out or even flirt with any girls, but most teachers had stopped paying attention to Drake all together. They called him: Hopeless.

However, they hadn't a clue the thoughts that were behind his perfectly exfoliated face. His eyes were trying to avoid looking in the direction of his biological father's Neon, but they kept sliding over and squinting to catch a glimpse of him sitting inside behind the wheel?

_What could he possibly have to say? _Drake wondered. He had imagined what this scene would play out like for years, but he never thought it would actually happen. He had three possible ideas of how it would go between them and it wasn't until forth period ended, that Drake hit the nail on the hammer for why Bennett was parked outside his high school.

_Joy._

The word was supposed to mean an abundance of happiness, but these days he just associated it with the acidic burning taste he got in his throat when he thought about her.

He turned left down another bombastic hallway of Belleview and he had every intention of staying on path and walking straight into his class, but instead he made another left turn and marched right out the school's front doors and headed towards the parking lot.

Drake replayed what he wanted to say over and over again, in his head, on his way over to the dirty Neon. He wanted to tell his dad just how much he hated him, that he wanted him to leave, that he was a prick. Drake had a plan to shout every swear his mother hated and then sucker punch Bennett right in the nose, the same nose Drake wore in the middle of his face. Instead, he stopped himself, one step away from the front license plate.

Bennett's whole face turned from a neutral expression to a blank slate of shock. He swallowed around the lump in his throat and let himself out from behind the wheel.

"Drake," He softly said, looking over the son he left behind. Drake and Bennett looked like wax statues of one another, standing still and staring each other right in the eyes. Drake had lost the hostility in his face; he was now just standing there inside a shell of a boy. "I've missed you."

"Then how come you haven't called?" Drake shouted.

"Look…" Bennett took a large step towards his son, but Drake was ready to rant and took two steps backwards.

"Or stopped by? I know you know where we live now."

Bennett didn't say anything. Drake had grown up a lot in the last seven years. He went from a boy who'd wear his dad's rock band tee shirts down to his knees into a kid who had a half an hour morning routine in front of the mirror. He'd gone from baby thrasher to polished star. Bennett knew he didn't deserve any credit at all, but he still felt very proud.

"Did I accidentally delete all those hundreds of emails you sent or did the postman lose all your letters?"

"You've got every right to hate me, Drake, I don't blame you."

"Yes, I do!" Drake crossed his arms and stated, for the first time in a long time, he was very sure of himself. "You didn't even send me a fucking fruit basket!" He finally let out.

"This has been hard for me, too, believe it or not."

"Yeah, I bet." He scoffed, his chest puffing up slightly. "That's rich."

"I can't believe what I did to you, your mother, and Megan. I hate myself."

"You're not alone with that."

"I can't sleep. I make myself sick."

"What do you want? Just cut to it." Drake didn't want to stand there and hear anything Bennett had to say. Drake knew himself and his tender heart too well. If he stood there long enough listening, he would start to feel some kind of empathy for the guy.

"I want to be your dad."

Drake was always aware that Bennett was his father and he had a very loose idea of what he was like, but he never thought of him that way at all. As far as Drake was concerned, Walter was his father.

"Well, then where the hell have you been for the past seven years?" He shouted with his arms outstretched out either side of him.

"I know, I know, but Drake, Teresa left. Joy's gone. All I have now is my mistakes and I want to make things better."

"I have to go to class." It was the first time Drake had ever said it and it was the only time he'd ever mean it. He tried to turn his back on his dad, but Bennett reached for Drake's shoulder and caught his attention again.

"Audrey's probably slandered me to you, I know – "

"She hasn't actually. Mom's never said anything bad about you."

"Well, she's a good person, your mother, but she won't let me see you."

Drake knew she was just trying to protect him and Megan. He wasn't upset with her at all for that fact.

"Please, just consider seeing me. We could go for pizza or…just hang out. Whatever you're into."

It was sad sight, Bennett hadn't a single clue what his son was interested in.

"I got to go." Drake turned around in a quick circle and dragged his feet back into the school doors. His whole body hung heavy as he pushed the doors opened. He turned around for a second once he was fully into the school hallway, he caught a glimpse of his dad getting back into his car and turning it on.

Quietly, Drake contemplated what Bennett had asked.

_X_

He turned out of the packed parking lot of Belleview, a smirk wet and slimy on his face. He was one step closer to the girl he loved, and even if Bennett had to use a teenage boy to get to her, he would.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Oh, the suspense.

Let me know what you guys think! I love all your reviews and comments.


	6. This Is The Time, This Is The Place

Chapter Six: This Is the Time; This Is the Place to Be

DISCLAIMER: I only own the made-up characters. I don't own Drake & Josh or anything of its affiliates.

Author's Note: I apologize for the hiatus. I did, accidentally, delete Microsoft Word, but after that, I honestly just didn't write for awhile. I'm back now, though, and super apologetic!

"Drake." Audrey called from in the dining room where she was helping Megan set the table. She caught him where as he was adjusting his sleeves over his wrists and trying to run out the door.

"Walter said I could use his car, I swear!" His eyes grew huge and he threw his hands up in the air, as if he'd been caught and was just about to be severely punished.

"That's fine, I just, I need to have a talk with you." She began to leave the table, before turning around. "Are you okay, Megan?" She double-checked before leaving to tend to her business with Drake.

"Yeah, I think I got this under control." Dryly, Megan said and continued to put a plate in front of each place.

Audrey and Drake stood very close to one another in the doorway, trying to minimize any room for volume to rise out of it. She fiddled with her hands in front of her and toyed with ideas in her head about how to tell him the news.

"Mom," Drake was in a rush and he could tell by her facial expression and body language that she was having a difficult time. He could read girls very well, especially his mother. "Is this about dad?"

"How did you know?" She finally looked her son in the eyes, she was pale and astonished.

"He came by the school today." Drake wasn't sure if he should be so honest with her.

"What? He did? Drake, tell me you didn't talk to him!" Earlier that morning, when Audrey had finally got off the telephone with Bennett, she had every intention of letting Drake decide what he wanted to do with the situation. If Drake wanted to know his father and have some kind of relationship with him that was his decision. It surprised her to hear her objection come so quickly out of her mouth.

"I didn't." Drake lied and then scoffed to really sell it. "Why would I? I've got nothing to say to him." Audrey didn't even try to hide her relief. "Just chill, mom."

"I am chill." Audrey lied just like her son. "Do you want to talk about this, hon?" She drew a hand down his arm, dotingly.

"Nah, I'm good, I'm in a rush." He turned and clasped the knob of his front door, but his mom didn't give up.

"Have fun, honey." She hoped he'd turn around and give her a quick peck, but he just pulled the door open in one big swoop. "Oh, where are you going?" She asked on her way back to the kitchen.

"Uh...out?"

"But, where?"

"To McDonald's." Drake lied.

"Drake, don't eat that crap. You never know what it actually is. Why don't you stay and have dinner with us? I'm making pork chops and cheesy scallop potatoes."

"As delicious as that sound, Mom," And it did. Drake began to run one hand through his freshly washed mane of hair, the way he often did when he didn't know what to say. "I'm meeting Trevor there."

"Well, he can come over here for dinner."

Audrey didn't know any better; she didn't mean to make Drake's escape so difficult for him.

"Yeah, well, he's kind of torn up, you know? He lost his...Tae Kwan Doe match to...a girl...a French girl...who was..." Drake was pretty impressed with the tall tale he was conjuring up from the very top of his head. Megan stared her brother down form the table, a look of disbelief and amusement sitting clear on her face. "Really mean to him, verbally, so I got to jet."

"Okay." Audrey couldn't argue with that, or she just didn't want to. "Bye." She said to the sound of Drake's sneaker's screeching against the wooden floor and the door slamming.

"Mom?" Megan spoke up.

"Yes, Megan?"

"You know he's lying, right?" She checked before setting down the last fork.

"Through his teeth." Audrey nodded along with her only daughter.

_X_**X**_**X**_

He'd never been to the bar and grill, Hark before, which was also connected to a music store that always, featured the best local bands demos. Music poured from the surround sound speaker's at the perfect volume, you could hear what your company was saying, but still sink right into a song. The walls were scattered in different autographed vinyl covers, signed platinum and gold framed albums, and various pictures of the artists that had performed at Hark in the past. Hark has a history of discovering and debuting the hottest bands that San Diego was producing. Drake had always wanted to come check it out and one day, he dreamed of rocking out there with his band, but Hark was located in 

such a rough neighborhood that his mom always freaked out when he talked about going, and Josh was too chicken to check it out with him.

Drake was six minutes late getting there due to having trouble parallel parking on the street and trying to convince him to go inside and meet Bennett. He didn't know why he called him and agreed to go for a bite with him in the first place. Walter was a great step-father, Drake rarely thought of him as his step-father because he seemed so fitting to just be his dad, but a part of him always wanted to have his own Dad and get to know his biological father. He held a grudge over the years against Bennett, hating him for taking off with a younger woman and playing house with her and her daughter, but he knew if the opportunity reared its head, he would forgive Bennett.

"Can I help you?" A southern twang called right at him. Drake didn't even notice he'd been standing in a line and making his way to the hostess podium. A blonde little thing with peg legs and skin arms stood there with the glossiest lips he'd ever laid eyes on. She had a small baby-sized shirt that read "Hark" in jagged penmanship, a faded jean skirt, and the only thing appropriate for the autumn weather, a pair of dark brown Uggs. Her hostess badge read: Candace.

"I'm just waiting for someone." He meekly said. Usually, Drake would strike up conversation with any living girl, especially one with a spray tan like Candace, but he was too nervous about actually spending time with the man who birthed him to start schmoozing on her.

All the tables and booths of Hark, engraved and carved with people's names and phrases, mostly vulgar, were full to the brim, but there was always standing room, so everybody could enjoy the live bands the grill hosted.

Drake slid quietly out of the line, his hands shoved in his pockets. He concentrated on looking over some of the album covers on the wall to avoid thinking about Bennett's tardiness. Drake had never been famous for his punctuality either, it was forgivable.

Even though Drake loved the music pumping through out the room and the atmosphere of Hark, thirty minutes dragged by like a toy on a string behind a toddler who was just learning how to walk. Bennett had let his son down again it seemed. Drake had scanned over the room numerous times looking for the same hair that he had, just on a much older man, but he couldn't find his mane anywhere.

Anger and disappointment the only thing controlling him, Drake held up both his palms and slammed them against the door of the bar and grill and whipped the door open to release him on the outside world.

"Ouch!" Accidentally, Drake pushed the door open so violently, it slammed into the man who was coming inside. "Drake, watch it." A bellowing laugh erupted out of the lips of Bennett Parker. "Let's go get us something to drink, huh?" He pats his son on the back and wandered into Hark.

Drake was baffled, and not just by the stench of pot coming from Bennett, but his dad seemed to be totally unfazed by how late he was. Maybe, he was the one who got the time mixed up, Drake figured. He followed his dad in and joined him at a small round table near the bar.

"Thanks, Candy," Bennett sat down in his chair, his back slouched and legs wide open. He took his dry hand and massaged the back of Candace's thigh which felt as silky and warm as fresh hotel bed sheets. "This is my son, huh." He nodded towards Drake, who was sitting with his shoulders hunched and whole body folding inward, his hands resting on his lap anxiously.

"Explains why he's ridiculously good-looking." She winked at him before smacking her lips together. She took her time getting back to the hostess podium, taking long and slow strides on her way there. Drake watched Bennett watch her and decided not to take Candace's comment about his looks as a compliment.

"I'm going to get a beer, you want one?" Bennett sniffled, his eyes like wet, thin, and red slits sitting on his face, and he looked over Drake instead of at him.

"I'm not twenty-one. I'm not even out of high school." Drake didn't understand.

"Do you want one?" Bennett asked again.

"Yeah, thanks." For a second, Drake forgot about everything else and smiled. He had one of those "cool dads", a dad who would sneak him into strip clubs, buy him beer, and just shoot the shit with.

When Bennett came back to their table he had a beer in each hand and a smile on his face rarely seen outside of musical movie.

"Thanks for coming." He cleared his throat and said, handing one of the drinks to Drake before he sat back down in his chair. It had "fuck the police" written in thick permanent marker on the rim of it and the lyrics to an Aqualung song on the seat.

"No, it's fine," Drake tried to act relaxed and avoid all the uncomfortable feelings that were living inside of him at the moment. He took a swig of beer and let out a refreshing gasp after he swallowed. "I hear the band that's playing tonight is great. They got rave reviews at their last show."

"The Caramel Onions ?" Bennett rocked back in his chair, leaving the back two legs of it to be the only part still in touch with the floor. "They're not bad." He drank his beer at metronome and nodded his head along, his stoned eyes shut the whole time. "They've got the heart of The Pogues, but the lyrics and progression of The Offspring. Bad combo."

Finally, it made sense where Drake got his knack and passion for music from. Audrey couldn't carry a tune or beat if her life depended on it. His grandpa could play the opening riff of "Jumping Jack Flash" on guitar, but that was all.

"So, are we going to talk about it?" Drake asked in a quiet voice.

"Talk about what?" Bennett let his chair go back to standing on all fours and searching around the entire room, moving his head in every direction and slowly taking in all the details.

"Are you looking for a washroom or something?" Drake tried to catch on.

"No, no, what were you saying?" Bennett tried to make eye contact with his son, but he kept his eyes shifting in other directions.

"I just, my mom's not so cool with me being here. I don't know what I'm supposed to feel right now. You kind of just waltzed back here unannounced after being M.I.A for eight years." Drake wanted to sound mature and be true to himself at the same time, but he could've been shouting out the pin code to bank account, Bennett wasn't just wasn't paying attention.

Drake turned his head around and stared in the same direction Bennett was. All he could see was Candace dancing around at the podium with another stunning hostess to the Against Me song that was playing through out the bar and grill. A few drunk college guys were sitting in the waiting area enjoying the free show. He glanced back at his dad and watched as his eyes widened and he sat up closer to the table. It was as if he didn't know Drake was in the building, let alone sitting across from him. Drake looked behind him once more and noticed what had his dad so excited: Joy Catto.

She was much more covered up then the two hostesses at the front. She was wearing the same shirt as they were wearing, considering it was the Hark uniform, but she had on a pair of mocha colored wide leg pants on and her yellow sneakers, as always.

In a dim light and smoky environment, she glided through the room with the same poise a ballerina had. She had on a bigger smile then usual, Drake never really saw her grin, though. She appeared miserable everyday at school. She danced around and started typing in on a till at the end of the bar. Bennett's eyes watched her the whole time, Drake just watched him. He couldn't figure out if it was a coincidence or not that they were both there.

"Hey Joy toy!" One of the bartenders called from the other end of the bar. He was pouring whatever was on tap into a 6oz. He gave her a disapproving look and a smile at the same time. "Whatcha listening to these days?" She was the youngest staff member at Hark, she worked in the music store attached and technically, wasn't allowed to enter the bar, but on dinner break, they'd let her come in and listen to the bands for a while.

"Interpol." She said, her face illuminated in the blue glow coming from the till screen.

"Quote me something." He said, running one hand over his bald black head and giving a group of girls a round of Alabama Slammers.

"But you cannot safely say that while I will be away, you will not consider sadly, how you helped me to stray, and you will not reach me I am resenting a position that's past resentment and now, I can't consider, and now there is this distance." The lyrics of one of 

her favorite Interpol songs rolled right off her tongue as she concentrated on punching the right buttons in on the till. "What do you think?"

"I think it's no Tupac."

"Whatever." The two of them laughed, as she shook her head. "So, I'm putting in a weird request for my drink order. Do you think you can make one of those Mocha Cola Sprite floats you made for Kelly when she was pregnant, but with bananas in them?"

"Where do you come up with these things?"

"They just kind of come, I don't question it." She shrugged and leaned her stomach against the ledge of the bar, talking to one of her favorite bartenders, Bryon. "And if you just so happen to put whipped cream and caramel drizzle on it, I won't be peeved."

"I'm on it. Are you at least giving Seymour something crazy to make back there?"

"A spaghetti burger."

"What?"

"Spaghetti noodles, maranaria sauce, meat patty and a bun."

"That's going to be gross."

"It's like a plate of spaghetti and sauce on a thick flat meatball between a tweleve grain bun."

"You are your mother's daughter." He shook his head and laughed.

"I'm going to go back to the store, but I'll be back when the band starts."

"See you, Joy toy."

She spun around on toes, years of dance had given her that if nothing else, but instead of gliding back to the store, she froze. Her eyes darting deeply into Bennett's and then glancing over to Drake.

"What the hell are you doing here?" She asked, only directly looking at her mom's ex-boyfriend, Bennett.

"I wish I knew." Drake answered for himself.

"I told you not come here anymore. I don't want to see you." Joy's face crumpled into one shade of red and she headed straight into the kitchen.

"Joy Catto, wait." Bennett shot up straight like a rocket to head after her, but Bryon and his gigantic triceps stood in his way of the kitchen.

"Sorry about that Drake, I don't know what got into her." Bennett made an excuse when he turned around to see his son with an expression of devastation. "Want another beer? Maybe, scotch on the rocks?"

"Is this just Operation make Joy jealous? Are you trying to get back at Teresa or whatever her name is?" Drake shot.

Part two coming!

I have so much more to write for this chapter alone, I've got some strange ideas to use up, but let me know what you guys think or any suggestions.


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